


The Christmas Gifts

by Ailelie, Cinaed



Series: Enduring Legends [23]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Het and Slash, M/M, No season 4 spoilers, Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-19
Updated: 2011-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-27 13:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/296498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailelie/pseuds/Ailelie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/pseuds/Cinaed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Monday, December 19 2011</i></p><p>In which Percy and most of the others go Christmas shopping for the kids at the shelter, and Gavin asks Percy for a favor.</p><p>(Ambrose/David, Elle/Gavin)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Christmas Gifts

_Monday, December 19, 2011_

Percy rang the doorbell and waited. It was a cold day but his mother had forced a hat and scarf on him before he’d left, so the cold only nipped at his face.

A second later, he heard the sound of pounding feet, and Ambrose flung open the door, red-faced and grinning. “Come in!” he said. “David will be ready in a second.” He turned and tossed over his shoulder, “Thanks for driving us.”

Percy shrugged. “Elle asked me,” he said, by way of explanation. She’d cornered him on the second day of rehearsals and asked if he’d wanted to help her buy Christmas gifts for the kids at the shelter. Who would say no?

Ambrose laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, stick around and you’ll find Elle is very good at volunteering people for things.”

“I noticed,” Percy said. He’d meant it to be matter-of-fact, but apparently Ambrose took it for a joke because Ambrose laughed again.

David came into the living room wearing a very colorful sweater with red and yellow Christmas ornaments decorating it. He pulled a face when he noticed Percy staring. “It was a gag gift from my Secret Santa at school, but then Shea thought I looked good in it,” he said, a defensive note in his voice like he’d already had this discussion multiple times. “I promised Shea I’d wear it for Ambrose.” 

Ambrose shook his head, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. “I still think you should get Shea checked out for color-blindness,” he said. He jerked his head towards the door. “Well, I’m ready when you are.” He paused, frowning briefly. “Unless you want something first, Percy-- a hot chocolate or coffee or something?”

“No, thanks,” Percy said. “Already had some hot chocolate before I came.” He glanced around. “Is Adam not here?” he asked, a little awkwardly. It still felt weird to call the older man by his first name, even if Adam had insisted on it. He’d wanted to talk to Adam, anyway, see what he thought of all this reincarnation weirdness. 

Ambrose shook his head in denial. “He’s off doing some Christmas shopping of his own,” he explained as David went to the closet and pulled out a coat and its matching scarf. Ambrose grinned. “Come on. If we’re late, Elle’ll give us the Evil Eye.”

“This should be interesting,” David commented to Percy as they headed to the car. “I’ve always done all my shopping after Thanksgiving so I’ve never been at a mall this time of year. I’m sure the crowds will be terrible.”

“Probably,” Percy agreed.

Ambrose snorted. “Please, like a crowd would bother you,” he said, looking up at him. “You’ll never get lost in a crowd.”

“Nope,” Percy agreed cheerfully. “Once I hit six-three, my mom started using me to part crowds for her.”

**

**

The mall was indeed crowded—it took Percy ten minutes just to find a parking spot—but it wasn’t difficult to spot Elle and Gavin, not when Elle was jumping up and down and waving her arms at them.

“Hey,” Ambrose called, laughing.

“Hey,” Elle called back, grinning from ear to ear.

The group huddled together for a moment like they were prepping for a basketball game instead of Christmas shopping. Elle pursed her lips and pulled a few sheets of paper from her purse, looking like a general as she handed them out and explained, “I thought we needed a plan of attack-- I looked at the floor plan of the mall and figured out which stores we should hit first to get the best gifts for the kids. On the back are a list of toys that the kids mentioned they wanted, along with other toys and items they might want or need.”

“Of course you did,” Gavin said fondly, then added in an aside to the others, “You should see her on Black Friday.”

“Percy,” Elle continued, ignoring Gavin except for the amused smile that flickered across her face, “I’m putting you in charge of top-shelf items that the rest of us can’t reach.” She beamed at him and patted him on the arm when he nodded. “You’re definitely a keeper,” she told him. “Now we don’t have to waste time trying to get a worker to help us!”

“Percy, you must feel so appreciated,” Ambrose declared, snickering until Elle turned to him and said, “And _you_ \-- I know you don’t want to use your magic in a public place, but if it comes down to your magic getting that particular toy, go for it.”

Ambrose blinked. “Elle, I’m not going to--” he began, and then noticed her expression. He wilted a little. “Fine, just don’t tell Arthur,” he muttered. “If I use my magic for this, he’ll expect me to use magic for him the next time he’s feeling lazy.”

“Deal,” Elle said promptly, then turned to David, who looked torn between amusement and alarm. “You’ll be charming anyone who needs distracting, whether it’s a woman making a beeline for the last available toy or one of the workers when we take ‘for display only’ toy.”

It was David’s turn to blink. “The ‘for display only’ toy….” He trailed off and took a step closer to Ambrose when Elle nodded. In a low voice, David whispered, “Ambrose, should I be scared?”

“Yes,” Ambrose said, belying his words with a muffled laugh.

“What about me?” Gavin asked, wrapping his arms around Elle’s waist and grinning at her.

Elle grinned back. “You’ll be carrying the gifts,” she informed him.

Gavin’s face fell a little. Obviously he’d been expecting something more fun than that. “I’m sure I could charm the workers too,” he said, a little hopefully.

Elle patted his cheek and kissed him a slow, lingering kiss that made Percy look at his feet and study the now grimy snow. “I know you can, but I want you near me. You know better than anyone what the kids really want for Christmas,” she said. “Plus, you’ve got all the money.”

When Gavin nodded and tapped his pocket, smiling, she clapped her mitten-clad hands together. “Okay! Let’s get some toys, everyone!”

Most of the shopping was a blur of people constantly bumping into Percy and Percy reaching for toy after toy and dropping it into Gavin and Elle’s waiting hands.

The only moment that stood out in his memory was when Gavin darted a quick glance at Elle, who was currently looking at her list and frowning in concentration, and elbowed Percy in the side, prodding him until they’d maneuvered themselves out of Elle’s direct line of sight.

“Can you do me a favor?” Gavin asked, staring at him intently from above the half-dozen shopping bags dragging at Gavin’s wrists.

Percy blinked. “Sure.”

“Distract Elle for me while I go do some last-minute shopping of my own.” Gavin grinned at him. “I’d owe you one.”

Percy shrugged. “No problem. Getting something special for Elle?” He was surprised when Gavin flushed a little, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“Something like that,” Gavin muttered. He turned to go, and then hesitated. “Look, Percy-- I know David explained things to you, but if you ever want to talk, just let me know, okay? I’m sure getting drawn into this whole thing just from driving a fellow teacher to the city for Christmas must have been weird.”

Percy shrugged again, uncomfortable but a little pleased by Gavin’s concern. “I’m okay,” he said, and he was, mostly. He could have done without the dream last night about kids being in danger, the nightmare that had woken him up in a cold sweat. He’d had to go and check on his cousins, sound asleep in their rooms, before he’d been able to get back to sleep. But otherwise, he was okay.

It was weird, but at least he was Percival, not anyone like King Arthur or Merlin. He smiled at Gavin, who looked unconvinced. “I’ll talk to you or David if I need to,” he promised, and watched as most of the concern left Gavin’s face.

“Okay,” Gavin said. “Thanks again. Just distract Elle for a minute, and I’ll slip away.”

Percy nodded and walked over to Elle who was scratching something off the list with a satisfied smile. “Uh, so about the play-- is Alice singing or not? You two were arguing, but I never heard….” Who won, he was about to conclude, but Elle’s expression stopped him.

“Alice is going to sing if I have to get John to convince her,” Elle declared. “You should hear her voice, Percy. She’s got amazing talent. I once heard her--”

Percy nodded as Elle went into a brief list of songs Alice had apparently sung.

After a minute, Elle blinked and looked around. “Where’s Gavin?” she asked.

Percy shrugged. “He said something about putting the presents in the car,” he said.

Elle smiled approvingly. “Great! Now he’ll be able to carry more stuff.” She looked down at her list. “Now, we need to hit the kids clothing store next. I saw that they were having sales on coats, and I’ve got the sizes of all of the kids currently at the shelter--”

Percy let her voice wash over him. Across the aisle, Ambrose and David were studying a toy together, Ambrose wrinkling his nose and saying something as David laughed. He stood there for a moment, drinking everything in.

Yeah, the whole reincarnation thing was weird, but at least they all seemed like good people. It wouldn’t be too bad, getting to know them.

“Percy?” Elle said, and Percy blinked. When he looked at her, she had tilted her head and was smiling at him. She touched his arm gently. “I for one am glad you drove David to the city,” she said, and laughed. “And not just because you’re going to make an excellent ghost.”

“Thanks,” Percy muttered, smiling back.

“Now,” Elle said briskly, “let’s get going to that clothing store!”

Percy nodded and followed.

**Author's Note:**

> This part was written by Cinaed and looked over by Ailelie.


End file.
